Streams

A Look At One Ordinary, Beautiful Life

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Shelagh Gordon died suddenly at 55 in February, 2012, leaving an ordinary but magical life. (Courtesy)

In our busy lives — we tend to overlook the simple acts of kindness around us. For the past few weeks, WBUR has been highlighting some of these as part of a series called “Kind World.”

In this edition we hear about an idea reporters at the Toronto Star came up with: Is it possible to capture the life of a person you’ve never met through the stories of their friends and family… after their death?

Journalists spent weeks combing the obituaries in search of a random, ordinary person whose family might be willing to allow a team of reporters into their lives.

They found Shelagh Gordon. She died suddenly of a brain aneurysm at age 55. Catherine Porter told her story in the Toronto Star.

The Kind World piece is told by Gordon’s oldest sister, Heather Cullimore, her niece, Jessica Cullimore, her best friend, Andy Schulz, and by Porter.

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